The ever-growing number of viewing platforms and options means that showrunners have to be even more careful about how they tell stories on cable television, a panel of hit producers told The Cable Show in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

While cable initially freed showrunners from the storytelling constraints of broadcast television, streaming platforms like Netflix and and Hulu have made the art of crafting episodes even more difficult, because there’s no telling how or when a viewer might see a show.

“I think the challenge now is you’re not making a show just to be broadcast on any network,” said “Fargo” Executive Producer Noah Hawley. “You have to make shows that will have a first life on commercial television, and a second life on Netflix or on-demand. You’re no longer making disposable television—you’re making something that’s made to last.”

Hawley said he’s definitely thinking about how an episode will look once the commercials come out, or when people are binge watching four at a time, which means that he no longer necessarily has to build to some splashy act break.

But not everyone is happy to alter their work methods to fit the new TV universe.

“You have to put your head down and plot your work,” said “Masters of Sex” Executive Producer Michelle Ashford. “Television has become so crazy with all these platforms—it’s sort of madness out there. If we took time to think about the ways all the people were watching—you can’t really take that into account. You just have to sit down and tell these great stories.”

Hawley and Ashford were speaking at the “From Fringe to Binge: Breakthrough Content on Every Screen” panel at the NCTA Cable Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

“The Divide” Executive Producer, Richard LaGravenese, pointed out that the proliferation of social media added one more wrinkle to their jobs, since the public can now dissect everything in real-time, rather than waiting for the water cooler at work the next morning.

“I think it affects you sometimes, how you’re writing your story,” LaGravenese said.

And the trio, who all work on cable programs, stressed the impact the medium has had over television as a whole over the past decade—Hawley said it had been seen as “Valhalla” by writers for years.

They pointed out that broadcast television, with gory shows like “Hannibal” on NBC, is now taking a page from the cable playbook in a fight to retain viewers.

“It feels like everyone is trying to compete with cable now, so everyone is pushing the envelope as much as they can,” LaGravanese said.

Tags:


  Save as PDF